Depending On The Writer / American Dad!

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• Stan's attitude towards his family varies from "A Jerkass because he doesn't understand what he's doing wrong, and tries to fix it when he finds out" to "Manipulative Bastard who's so callous that he'll often put them through some horrible Evil Plan for some incredibly trivial/stupid reason".
  "Lying is wrong! I'd know that if I'd paid any attention to anything that has happened to me before!"
• His attitude towards his family is dependent on who he's interacting with at the time: Hayley is either daddy's wayward grownup daughter who he tries to keep on the right (his) path, or the displaced trouble child he simply gives up on because they have nothing in common. Steve is both his school-stud son who has hidden geek qualities (in his mind's eye), and simply a shake of the head as to where he went wrong raising that boy. Francine is possibly his air-headed housewife who is slightly clueless as to what goes on in front of her, or his air-headed housewife whose rager past is contained by the suburban shell around her.
• Stan's competence also varies from episode to episode. In some episodes he is something of a Bunny-Ears Lawyer, and despite his shortcomings is a somewhat competent agent whose stunts ultimately prove his worth, or a completely hopeless excess of a human being who is actually far less capable of surviving than his family.
• Particularly in the early episodes, Stan's attitudes towards sexuality varied a LOT. Some episodes showed him as extremely puritanical and old-fashioned when it came to the subject, while other episodes showed him going to strip clubs and laughing at bawdy humor.
• Roger's Jerkass attitude can shift anywhere between a Jerk with a Heart of Gold that ultimately cares about his adoptive family or an Faux Affably Evil Psychopathic Manchild that Crosses the Line Twice repeatedly for laughs.
• Francine can either be a woman of average intelligence (if she sleeps at least eight hours, according to herself), or a full blown Dumb Blonde. She also shifts between a genuinely loving family woman who can scare Stan himself if she's pushed beyond ethical limits, or a psychotic Bitch in Sheep's Clothing (however, not quite as erratically as Lois Griffin). In the episode "Live and Let It Fry", she was insane.
• Her attitude towards her children (especially Steve) also varies from loving to downright resentful, sometimes bordering on hateful.
• Hayley's Soapbox Sadie tendancies can switch between being genuinely passionate and well intentioned, or completely hypocritical and implied to be nothing more than a facade to irritate her father. Similar to Francine, she can switch between the most level headed of the family or as much a self-righteous Jerkass as Stan.
• Steve is either a sweet kid who looks up to his dad, a kid with serious issues, or hormonal and perverted.
  • His competency with girls varies wildly. Sometimes, he comes off as awkward, but funny and cute to girls. Sometimes he's a stuttering, nervous wreck when talking to one, but endearing to them anyway. Sometimes, he's an ultra charismatic smooth operator who comes just this close to losing his virginity, while in other cases he's a tactless pervert who earns the disgust of the object of his affection. And in this one particular episode (at a Wild Teen Party, no less) he couldn't even talk to a girl without curling up into a fetal position on the floor and hyperventilating.
  • His level of strength and fighting skills also varies; generally, he's a wuss, but in "Irregarding Steve," he beat Beauregard unconscious in a fit of rage. The former is exaggerated in "Bully for Steve," where he's so pathetically weak that, according to Francine, he can't even make a fist.
  • Just like with his mother, the extent of how much of a bratty jackass he's become thanks to his Flanderization also varies from episode to episode. Unlike with Francine however where she's more of a bitch in episodes where she isn't a main character, this example applies to any episode with Steve, main character or not.
  • And as with his father, his competence also varies widely. Some episodes show him as a geek who's an expert on math and science, while other episodes have him barely above the mental capacity of an elementary schooler.
  • How much Steve acts his age also varies wildly; in some episodes, he's a typical teenage horn-dog interested in (unsuccessfully) chasing girls, with interests that are perceived as lame but fairly typical for a teenage boy (such as LARPing), but in others he acts like an elementary school student obsessed with toys, imagination and playing. Which one he is largely seems to depend on whichever will annoy his father more that week.
• In most episodes where the topic of religion comes up Stan is depicted as deeply and sincerely religious (albeit often with a comedic level of ignorance about his own faith) and the entire plot of "Dope and Faith" revolves around his fears that his atheist friend will go to Hell due to his lack of belief. In "May the Best Stan Win" on the other hand Stan appears to have no belief in any sort of spiritual afterlife, planning to be cryogenically frozen after death.
• Klaus' attitude towards having his consciousness inside of a goldfish. Most of the time, he hates being a fish and wants a new human body. Other times, he seems to enjoy being a fish or at least not hate it.

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